by Chris Hechtl
It was interesting that many in the yard considered the Pi mission a waste of time and resources. They wished to focus their efforts on knocking the Horathians out first. She privately admitted that such a goal was important, but Admiral Irons' reasoning that they needed to maintain their growth, take on the pirates elsewhere, and prevent the pirates from spreading their bioweapons were also valid. Fortunately, such a decision wasn't up to her to have to make. She already knew she had a long way to go before she was ever tasked with a leadership role.
She checked the clock just as additional paperwork was filed. Well, free processors were now up she thought as she closed the thought trains and refocused on the new paperwork.
Chapter 41
Horath
Emperor Pyotr had to deal with how the Federation and the resistance in his own government was a setback to his plans. It was nothing more than a setback, potentially one that could take years to iron out. He definitely needed to move carefully as he considered on how best to purge his government of malcontents and got the Empire he had envisioned.
But, before he could do that, he had to go through the day-to-day work of being emperor. That included dog and pony shows like the one he was currently attending. He watched, privately amused as the military contractor put their latest beast through its paces for his pleasure.
It was a tank, a spider tank with four legs that had tracks on the knees. It could nimbly step over rough terrain or obstacles and then drop to its tracks on flatter terrain to lower its profile and pick up speed. It had a green camouflage paint job and looked every centimeter like a lethal killing machine.
His people had privately told him that using the legs used up half of the machine's power reserves. That severely limited its range. Having so many moving parts also upped the cost and caused all sorts of maintenance headaches in the field. He pointed that out to the marketing director sitting with him in the viewing box.
“That's just a design issue sire. Once we get the bugs out and the systems become more efficient, better batteries for instance, we'll overcome that.”
“Ah, I see,” he said noncommittally. He was amused by the slick response from the marketing director. The man had offered him far more than his choice of beverage. They'd had a selection of slaves on hand for the after-party, but he'd declined. Such activities during a public event would become the fodder of the gossips either way. But he'd rather stay in the good graces of his wife and mother than let them nitpick over being publicly roasted.
Of course, someone could make a case about his being a prude, but he chose to ignore such things as beneath him. Besides, he had other problems on his mind. Like what to do about the tank.
Unfortunately, he was committed to its production. He'd taken the company's money with the assurances that the design would get through to production, despite any flaws in the prototype. He'd made it clear that if the flaws were terminal so was his involvement and he'd keep the money.
The problem was, they didn't have the funding, not unless he tried to appropriate more from the House of Lords. And they were being rather prickly, single mindedly focused on the navy and fighting the Federation. Slipping the funding in would be tricky.
But, then a fresh idea came to him, all due to the reminder of the deal. He watched the tank crab side to side. “Most impressive,” he murmured assuredly as the director gave him a sidelong look. The director looked pleased and went back to watching the show.
The machine dropped its hind legs and fired the main gun. It was an impressive display of firepower. Hastily the emperor put up binoculars to watch the shot hit the opposing hillside. It missed its intended target, but the explosion of dirt was impressive.
“Ah, just a parallax issue,” the director murmured.
“I'm sure,” the emperor said dryly.
They watched as the spider tank trundled up to the next firing point, a defilade hill. It tucked its front legs in and raised the rear to place the gun and turret above the defilade. “From here they can fire on targets without exposing themselves to return fire,” the director stated. The gun fired and the target down range exploded satisfyingly. The emperor nodded.
The tank made a show of articulating its legs and barrel to allow it to rise up as if it was an artillery piece.
The final show was of its defenses. Small arms fire came at it from a series of robots. The tank seemed to scan the battlefield and then laid out an impressive return fire with onboard machine guns. It mowed each of the enemy tanks down. It then crabbed to the side just as a shot went off. The director pointed to a robot tank down range.
“The final test. Combat.”
“Is it remote controlled?”
“Yes, sir. We considered putting someone in the tank but well …”
“They might surprise you and not play by the script,” the emperor said dryly as the spider tank returned fire. It then tried to fire while moving. The legs scrambled from the thrust of the backblast but then it tripped on a boulder and went down.
“Oh, what a pity,” the emperor said in a “butter wouldn't melt in his mouth” tone of voice.
The machine's turret fired again, but the shot was wild.
“We're calling it!” a voice said over the speakers.
“Pity, I was curious about how it would recover,” the emperor stated mildly as the audience broke out into chatter instead of the applause that had been intended. He looked over to the director and could see the other man was flushed and embarrassed.
“Well, I see some rethinking is still in order. Perhaps it will be ready for another quarter,” the emperor murmured soothingly, patting the man on the shoulder.
“Yes, um, yes, sire,” the man said, clearly aggrieved by the setback.
~~~^~~~
Since the tank had bombed, the emperor managed to make a minimum investment in time in the after-party. When he slipped free, he was a bit adrift for a moment. He'd told his chief of staff to take the evening off. On the ride back, he ordered his detail to go to the bioscience building.
The unexpected arrival of the emperor had some scurrying to do something. He was amused that as a low-level flunky gave him a dog and pony show Doctor Mengla showed up to take the reins. “Ah, Lacie, just the person I wanted to see,” he said with a note of approval in his voice. “Burning the midnight oil?”
“We have a lot to do, sire,” she said, nodding. She didn't say that she'd been on her way home when she'd gotten the frantic call.
“I wanted to look into Project Pestilence with you since I've got some unexpected free time. Exactly where are we with that?” he asked.
She nodded. “We're moving right along, sire.”
His eyes narrowed. It was a bit vague and evasive, but he let it slide for the moment. “I want the first ships to move out with the plague as soon as possible, Doctor,” he stated firmly.
“Ah, well, training our personnel on handling it is tricky, sire. We also have issues since most of the shipping is unsuitable to carry something of this importance. There are also security issues.”
“Get it expedited. Now.”
“Yes, sire. We're also waiting on shipping from the navy. As I was saying, we need special handling and security. We also need special equipment. We don't have that equipment on hand, so it needs to be constructed. All manufacturing is going to the navy at this time.”
The emperor cocked his head as he considered that excuse and then slowly nodded. “I'll see that some of it is freed up. Can you get me a list?”
“I'll certainly do that, Your Majesty, though you shouldn't trouble yourself.”
“I insist. If I can lend a hand, I will. As I said, I want this to be expedited.”
“Yes, sire. Well, a lot of what we need are chemical, laboratory, and life support materials … Some are very hard to come by, and in large quantities, it might take years to get it all ….” She sputtered to a halt at his deadly expression. “But,” she said hastily, “we have been exploring an interim solution. It isn't
perfect, but we can put some of the lower grade bioweapons that are in production onto some ships now. For instance, the weaponized Parvo. It doesn't have a 100 percent kill ratio, but an intestinal attack would hit the Neo population and cripple them.”
He grunted. “And how soon can you do this?”
“Oh, we can get the samples ready in a week. Getting them out will take another week or two depending on the ships. We'll need to consult the navy of course and Imperial Intelligence.”
“Get on it. I'll handle the other end,” the emperor stated. He wasn't happy, but it was a temporary solution. It was the next best thing to getting everything he wanted, in other words, a step in the right direction. Compromise, his mother had taught him. He smiled slightly and then let her continue the tour.
~~~^~~~
Since the Cutlass project's follow-up was under control and two of her other projects were still tied up in the review board, Elvira puttered around for a couple hours before she decided to explore the design of the emergency fighters. She knew that the design was created over a thousand years ago for various conflicts. She was keenly interested to note the transfer of technology from the program as well as generic space platforms to weapon platforms someone had designed in Dead Drop and Garth.
She pulled up the blueprints and scanned them with a critical eye. She instantly approved of the basic design. It was crude but effective and good for something in the field. But, there was room for improvement, so she slowly started making her own improvements and modifications.
~~~^~~~
Catherine visited Elvira. She tried to put in an appearance with the woman at least once every two weeks to make sure there were no issues with the Empire's golden goose. She knocked on the woman's door and then entered when no one answered.
She was amused to see the woman intently staring at a series of images and a hologram. “What are you working on?” she asked mildly curious as she stared at the project.
It was a little unnerving how the other woman could multitask with wild abandon. How she kept it all straight on paper let alone in her own head was beyond her. Elvira definitely had a gift. She fully agreed with Malwin; the woman had to be not only protected but given free rein to work her magic. She'd already heard kudos about the Cutlass fighter design recently put into production. The documentation alone was stunning.
“I saw the design of these platforms Dead Drop and Garth are building. Since I'm between a few projects and waiting on some computer time to run sims, I decided to tear them apart and see what we can improve,” Elvira replied absently as her fingers flew on her keyboard.
Catherine came over and looked over her shoulder. She nodded. When her hand reached around Elvira, the raven-haired woman startled and then looked up at her in surprise and dismay. “Oh! Princess!” she started to rise but bumped into Catherine.
Catherine chuckled and pushed her back into her seat. “As you were. Now, let's see … I like what I'm seeing here. You want to get this into everyone's hands, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. I was shooting for a way to produce them with out-of-stock materials. I went modular with kits and software. I'm a bit concerned about the fire control, defenses, and cyber warfare issues though …”
~~~^~~~
Emperor Pyotr was amused by his people's single-minded focus on the Federation. Some were getting slack about their personal security, including his daughter. He was tempted to take a few of the most troublesome out, they'd never know what hit them, but he declined the urge. After all, the external threat was uniting his people like never before.
He was tempted, but getting his hand slapped as he had over the Purity and Enlightenment incident made him pause. His mother was right damn her; he didn't need or want his people united in opposition against him. He frowned and then shook his head.
He was interested and amused in his daughter's new preoccupation with the Varbossa woman. There were whispers about the woman, how she was the next Vinatelli. Given how badly that had worked out, he hoped ONI had a keen eye on her and everything she produced. He shook his head. But, he had to admit she got results. That was probably why Malwin was enamored with the woman. According to all reports, they weren't sleeping together. She was such a techno nerd she probably hadn't even noticed Malwin at all other than as a patron.
He shook his head. Well, if they thought the woman was such a genius, he might as well help things along. Maybe some good would come of it after all. If it did a little reminder in certain ears would let people know he too had helped.
He thought about how to play it but then shrugged such future considerations off for the moment. Instead, he put a call in to an old friend. “Roger? Hi. Do you remember that rebuild project you had? The hangar queen? Well, I've got an idea to float by you. You can run it past the navy. I know you've heard about the Cutlass program. Well, we've got this resident genius who is a fan of your baby. I'd like to see if she's up to the challenge of helping you get the bird back into the air …”
~~~^~~~
Catherine had been so amused by Elvira's creativity and antics that she'd insisted on dragging the other woman away for a working dinner. She'd spun it as a way for each of them to pick the other's brain. She knew Elvira was getting more out of the conversation than she was but she was picking up some of the woman's enthusiasm. It was hard not to.
One thing she found most interesting was that Elvira was keenly interested in her time in combat and her first-hand experiences with it. Unfortunately, Catherine didn't have a lot to relate about her current project having never used them in combat or been up against them. She did have a bit to say about the fighters as well as carrier operations, mines, and other things.
Along the way she realized she liked Elvira. The other woman was ever respectful, but she was such a techno nerd she tended to forget herself and treat Catherine as a person and fellow officer more often than not. She seemed to relax, well, no, relax wasn't the right word when describing Elvira, Catherine thought. Relax, far from it, she thought with a snort as the woman drew out a blueprint on a napkin with a borrowed pen while eating with her free hand.
She was about to say something when Elvira stiffened and then touched her right temple slowly. “Yes?”
Catherine noted the other woman was receiving an implant text message. As royalty she received a copy of it. She scanned it as she sipped her coffee. She was instantly amused when Elvira's eyes went comically wide and then the woman started to bounce in her seat. “Are you kidding me?” she squealed like a kid. “I've wanted to get my hands on that bird since I was a kid! I'm so there!”
She sobered though when Malwin's text reminded her of the mission and its parameters. She nodded. “I understand, sir,” she said with a nod. “Thank you for the opportunity. I won't let you down,” she said as he signed off.
“You seem excited,” Catherine said as Elvira's eyes took on a lost but dreamy look she envied.
“Yeah. I've … you've heard of the Raven, right, ma'am?”
“Raven … ship or …?”
“Oh, fighter. Actually, a heavy fighter/bomber. Old, but … well, yeah, old as in older than the Xeno war ….” She fluttered her hands impatiently with herself. “Anyway, there is one in the Empire. I saw it at a space show when I was a little girl. It's … an honor to get to see it up close. Well, Admiral Cartwright just informed me that we've been given an opportunity to document the ship as we give it an overhaul,” she said with a beautiful grin.
“Like a kid in a candy store,” Catherine observed with a laugh.
“Yup,” Elvira agreed, eyes dancing as she went back to her meal. “I gotta finish up though; I've got so much to do!”
“Eat, don't inhale your dinner,” Catherine scolded mildly. “You'll need your strength if you stay up to the wee hours with this,” she warned.
Elvira rolled her expressive eyes and then nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” she replied meekly as she went back to a more poised atmosphere. She did fidget a little Catherine noted, but she
did try to behave.
~~~^~~~
Every one of Elvira's other projects had been put on hold to deal with her current preoccupation. She had focused with intense ferocity on the upcoming project. Elvira looked into the Raven heavy fighter/bomber design. There was only one in Horath, and it sat before her in the hangar, a deadly bird of prey. She wanted so badly to take it apart carefully and meticulously, but the owner had denied her.
Instead she had to use nondestructive means to examine the fighter. Fortunately, it needed an overhaul. It also needed parts that didn't exist or were hard to come by. By promising a free overhaul, the navy had gotten full access to the bird and what little documentation existed.
As the crews got to work, she had them work a specific way. As each part was pulled off the bird, the steps were documented and then every part meticulously 3D scanned, X-rayed, imaged, and if necessary, run through an MRI.
Copies of her software were downloaded. Even her flash memory was copied. Circuitry was documented, traced, and imaged. She wanted everything, not just the craft's shield nodes and tractors she was reportedly famous for.
For sections of the fighter they couldn't gain access to, the team scanned and documented them the best they could. She had a running laser scan library of the structure and every panel and component.
The Raven was an older design, the precursor to the Hornet and the E class family of fighters. But it was a very well-received design. It was modular, with the ability to not only refuel, but rearm and even be repaired while in flight. She was one of the first fighter designs to be able to handle all of those tasks. She was also designed to have an onboard A.I., albeit a dumb A.I., to manage the ship's systems and the pilot's workload.
What was most interesting about the design was her shield emitters and other force emitters. She had a series of powerful force emitters that could act as energy shields, tractors, or repellers. Many Ravens worked in conjunction with a special automated work pod. The work pod could be outfitted with weapons or additional shield emitters. One of the favorite things some experienced pilots did was use the work pod to create a gravitational lens to focus their energy weapons for incredible accuracy and firepower.